Yesterday I reported that a Sega of America marketing executive (Mr. Almeda) said that Sega wouldn't release Yakuza 3 in the west because it would sell poorly. Today, the source of such horrible news, Matt Furtado of the Examiner, edited his article stating that (As i kind of predicted, or at least hoped, in my last article) what he reported was just Mr. Almeda's personal opinion, and not the official standpoint of Sega of America. It's interesting to see that he also removed Mr. Almeda's name, probably to keep him out of trouble with his superiors for having said something to a journalist that he probably shouldn't have.
Well. I personally hope that Mr. Almeda's opinion isn't shared by his colleagues of Sega of America, because honestly (As I already described in my previous article) it's based on an entirely flawed premise. Yakuza 2's sales were seriously hindered by the lack of any advertising and marketing effort (It wasn't even dubbed in english).
Of course an absolutely half assed release like that wouldn't sell. The trick is not to do the same error again, and to release Yakuza 3 (and not only Yakuza 3) with the marketing effort any good game needs to be known and appreciated by the general public.
I'm seriously surprised that a marketing professional really missed that.
Maybe, though, this big scare we got will be useful, as the thousands of annoyed to absolutely enraged comments on several portals and blogs probably shown Sega of America that just maybe they might be understimating Yakuza 3's potential fanbase.
After all it has absolutely top-notch graphics, a great fighting system and a lovely story (and the Yakuza is definitely a concept that's already familiar to the western public, given the truckloads of anime, manga and themed movies that are now part of the pop culture). What else do they think it's needed for a game to sell well? You got it. Advertisement and a good english edition done with the right budget, possibly before the game gets old and we start playing on a Playstation 4.
Do try, Sega, pretty please.
Friday, July 31, 2009
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